Low Cost Romanian Tram to Shock European Markets

With the launch of the Dacia Logan, Romanian auto maker Dacia hit the jackpot. The several years of success of the model since its launch on the global markets have cemented in the minds of the Romanian engineers (and for good reason) that cheap usually sells better.

Now, trying to build on the success of the low cost model implemented by Dacia, the public transport company of the country's capital, RATB, announced that it is working on a low-cost tramcar to be sold in as many markets as possible.

Now, when you say low-cost and tramcar in the same sentence, you are not talking about several thousand euros. Low cost for RATB means some EUR2 million, compared to the average EUR2.5 million a tram costs in Europe.

According to Adrian Crit, RATB director, being low cost will not mean the builders will cut corners when building the tram. Featuring a low floor and air conditioning, the model, capable of transporting some 300 people at a time, is hoped to be a shocker on the European markets.

The low cost tram has been baptized Imperio, with the prototype expected to be ready by October 2011. With the help of Siemens, who will supply some of the parts and the engine, RATB hopes to build the first 5 trams by the end of the year .

After that, and provided the tram proves to be a hit, the RATB garages hope to produce anywhere in between 30 and 40 trams each year. Multiply that by EUR2 million and you get a pretty good idea on how much the low-cost market is worth.